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My fiance is locked up. His mother has POA. She quick claimed the house into her name. She has refused to sign the house back over when he is paroled. All of his possessions are still in the house and she is renting the house out to people. His possessions are being stolen and sold by the tenants. She will not pack up his possessions and put them in storage. What options does my fiance have in regards to his house and his possessions? Is she liable for restitution? Can she just refuse to sign his house back over?

Asked on 8/22/13, 11:39 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Without doing any research on this question, I can say that generally a SPECIFIC POA is needed to transfer property in the State of Georgia. If she QC'ed it into her name with her own POA that is probably not going to fly in the Superior Court in a lawsuit but it depends on a wide variety of factors. Why don't you go over and put his things in storage? Is there a loan? Who's paying the loan? All of these factors play into any case evaluation. You should consult an attorney now rather than later.

I agree with Attorney Holcombe. I add that a power of attorney can be revoked by your fiance at any time. He just needs to sign the revocation and it has to be filed. He can then execute a new POA naming you or someone else as his agent.

Its not called a "quick claim " but a quit claim deed. Further, in order to transfer property, the agent has to have POA that authorizes this and the POA has to be notarized properly. Further, an agent has to accept responsibility under a POA and can only exercise the POA for the principal's benefit. Under the facts you relay, this has not been done because the mother used the POA to benefit herself, not your fiance.

While the revocation and new power of attorney are simple (you can get free GA POAs on line), litigation is going to be costly and your fiance's resources are probably limited right now. The new agent under the new POA will have to hire a real estate litigation attorney to rescind the deed and get an injunction to prevent any further disposition of your fiance's possessions.

I would not delay and would try to the POA revoked to as soon as possible. To revoke, your fiance has to send a notice, via certified mail, to his mother that he is revoking the POA. The revocation needs filed in the land records in the county where the land is located.